Yana's Friends Ha-Chaverim Shel Yana

Yana (Evelyne Kaplun), pregnant and newly arrived in Israel from Russia, is abandoned by her husband. She is forced to depend on the kindness of strangers, notably her voyeuristic and arrogant flatmate Eli (Nir Levi). An unlikely pairing is further complicated by the onset of the first Gulf War and the chemical gas threat against Israel. The massive Russian influx into Israel, and the various characters it has brought to that country, is smartly and amusingly portrayed in Russian-born Arik Kaplun's quirky first feature. This film dominated the Israeli Academy Awards in 1999.